Risky Game
by xHetaliaVe134x
Summary: AU. Itacest. Rating will most likely change later. Lovino is the new history teacher at an academy in the middle of Italy. Feliciano is a goth student with a horrible record. Both are desperately looking for the other to reunite as a family. But what will happen when they both realize they've fallen in love with each other instead? I DO NOT OWN HETALIA OR IT'S CHARACTERS!
1. Prologue

Lovino Vargas walked into what was now his very own classroom at an academy right in the center of Italy. The room had the basic four walls (square-like); all a bland cream color and completely bare, except for the occasional scuff or stain. The door was at the front of the room in the corner while three giant windows were lined up on the west wall. Around twenty student desks line the north wall of the room stacked on top of each other or lying beside one another. Each having their own personal scribble or message written on every inch of its surface. A bigger teacher's desk sat at the front of the room near the blackboards on the wall and faced the pile of desks. It showed years of use in the squeaky drawer hinges and various minor scratches. The carpet was a dark reddish orange that was covered in several different stains to the point that half of the carpet looked almost brown. Before the former history teacher, Mr. Haines, had completely cleaned out the classroom, Lovino noticed the room was full of color. Posters displaying scenes from WW1 and WW2 along with posters showing international trade routes hung on the each of the four walls. Of course, Lovino himself didn't expect him to take everything. He didn't bother to listen to the chubby secretary from the main office explain that Mr. Haines was just relocating to teach at an academy in North America. Summer break wasn't over for the school's students for another few weeks so that gave him enough time to decorate. The thought made him grimace and slightly depressed.

His best friend Antonio Fernandez Carriedo walked in and gave a long whistle that went up an octave in the middle "This looks...ok. A little boring, but if that's what you're going for then you're heading in the right direction I guess."

The Italian glared and earned a satisfied grin from the Spanish male, happy with the reaction he got from the his friend. An idea popped into his head, causing him to smirk evilly "You and I will be doing some shopping over the next few weeks. It was your idea to move down here with me so I can look for my brother."

"Do you even have a clue what he looks like? I mean you get a letter right out of the blue from your grandfather on your dad's side saying you have a younger brother living in Italy. Plus we can't ask neither your father nor your grandfather to help because they're both hiding out somewhere in the world," Antonio stated with a huff. He never liked Lovino's dad's side of the family, mainly because most of them were members of the Italian mafia. "And besides, the only thing you can go off is a picture of the boy as a toddler! He's probably a teenager at least by now!"

Lovino rolled his eyes "If you don't want to help then go back to Spain and stuff your face with churros you moron."

Antonio stuck out his bottom lip in a pout but said nothing after that. Lovino sat on the bigger desk and glared at the room before him, slowly putting his thoughts together. Posters of all the wars he liked most covering one wall, maps covering another, and flags from every country possible thumb tacked to another wall. Leaving the wall with the two blackboards and door for Lovino to claim with anything he wanted. Posters of tomatoes, maybe?


	2. Chapter 1

Feliciano Vargas had been through twenty foster homes in Austria and out of all of them, he only liked two. The rest were either families that gave foster children like him (worthless family, theft charges, and continually getting kicked out of school) with false hope. Saying that he will get adopted to a nice family that will always love and care for him. He often ran away from those families, they always made him so irritated. The way they talked about how everything in the world was fine and dandy and everywhere you looked, rainbows and other happy things would be there to greet you. But for Feliciano everyday was just one color, grey. Then there were other families that only thought of him as a useless, dumb, and idiotic (along with many of "wonderful" names) Goth/emo freak that is nothing but a nobody who no one wants in their family. After being told that so many times, he started to believe them.

When he was eleven, his grandfather had shown up out of the blue at the school he'd been attending and pulled him out of class. He took Feliciano out to a car that was waiting outside the school and let him sit in the front next to him. At first Feliciano said nothing, but as the ride continued and seemed to have no end, he began to get bored and confused "Nonno? Won't we get in trouble when I don't return to the foster home after school?"

A smile appeared across his grandfather's lips and her turned to face his grandson "Don't worry Feliciano, you don't have to go back anymore. I went and visited your foster family before I came to pick you up. We're fine don't worry!" he cheered a bit, his voice had an edge of worry that was almost completely hidden until his last sentence though. Feliciano knew that there were only two reasons for his grandfather to be worried. One was when he was running from the cops after a mafia incident, and the second was when he or his brother (who he never was able to meet) was in danger due to the enemies his grandfather had made while being the Italian mafia leader.

Feliciano sighed and looked out the car window "Am I in danger again?" he asked in a voice that was meant to be soft and curious but ended up a little too loud.

His grandfather flinched a little before smiling sadly and turning his attention back to the road. "Yes Feliciano I'm sorry, I received a few threats saying that some members of the German mafia would kill you if I didn't show up to a certain meeting that's three days away. So to be safe I'm relocating you to Italy so some of my good friends can keep you safe." his grandfather said with a voice that meant to be calm and a little soothing but Feliciano noticed his hands gripped the steering wheel tightly from some other hidden emotion.

Feliciano looked directly at the side of his grandfather's face. "I don't have to go to another foster home do I?" he asked in a pleading and slightly irritated voice. He never wanted to see another home again or he would literally kill the family himself.

His grandfather looked and met the younger Italian's gaze, surprised at how much irritation was present in the boy's pleading voice. He smiled softly and raised a hand to ruffle the boy's hair as he answered "Not if you don't want to Felciano".

Feliciano relaxed at this and thanked his grandfather before he fell asleep with his head against the window.

Feliciano had just turned thirteen when they finally arrived in Italy (after driving through Europe for two years because his grandfather said it was to help lose anyone that might have been following them, when in truth they were just really lost). He was happy to be free of those mental scar inducing homes. His grandfather bought him his own apartment that had a perfect view of Italy from every window in every room. Even from the balcony that now had red silk outdoor couches sitting against a charcoal black metal guard railing. The apartment itself came fully furnished with a kitchen fully stocked with every type of cooking utensils you could imagine. Most of the walls were a light chocolate brown while the floor was oak while in some places it was creamy brown carpet. It was decorated with many paintings, vases, candles, statues, and fake decorative plants. All representing what Feliciano liked, even though you wouldn't know by his appearance.

He was labeled a Goth by many people due to the dark shades of clothes he always wore. Mainly black and dark grey, but sometimes other darker shades of the traditional colors depending on how he felt. Feliciano never wanted to be Goth, but the older he got, the more obvious it had started to become. He got black highlights put in his auburn-brown hair during one of his years in grade school and started wearing black makeup after that. Plus, the fact that his life was a wreck made everything fit together. "What was to blame the most?" some of his teachers would ask behind his back before answering that question for themselves with "I bet it has to do with all the mafia members in his family." When in truth that wasn't the case. Feliciano blamed the foster homes mostly, but he also blamed his mother for willingly giving him up for adoption after her and his father got a divorce, and lastly he blamed his so called older brother.

He hated his brother; he blamed him for what he had to go through. He was what his mother really wanted due to his well hidden eagerness to learn about history and the wars within it. But his father took his brother after insisting to the judge that Feliciano (who was just a year old when this was happening) should stay and be raised by his mother so he could get the proper care and love only a mother can offer. After that his mother hired a maid to care for him and never talked or looked at him after that. And when his mother never came home for five weeks, some men in black suits came and took him to the first foster home. He had just turned six the week before. Thanks to everything that happened in his life, he felt like nothing more than a nobody, a shadow to his older brother, trash that was left to rot in a dark alley all alone.

Feliciano was enrolled in an academy smack dab in the middle of Italy when he was fourteen. He always hated new schools; they were just filled with more eyes that once they landed on you, you were the new topic for gossip. But it wasn't as bad as he'd imagined, he'd been preparing for the basic 'Don't expect to get talked to on your first day of a new school, because other kids only see you as the scary Goth that only will be friends with other Goths' and sat alone at one of the many lunch tables in the cafeteria, when he heard an almost too soft to hear "Excuse me" and felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked to see a young Japanese male about his age with dark black hair and deep brown eyes, standing behind him and looking a slight bit freaked out. The boy cleared his throat before he continued in a nervous accented voice "Uh herro, my name iz Kiku Honda. I'm here to relcome you to the acrademy. May I know your name prease?"

At first all, Feliciano could do was stare and blink in both shock and surprise. He never expected someone to ever speak to him on his first day of school, hell no one ever did talk to him till at least his fourth or fifth day. He continued to just blink and sometimes felt his mouth open like he was going to answer, but then felt it close again seeing as no words would come out. The Japanese male watched him before giving a slight bow and started to walk off quickly. Before Feliciano himself could register what was happening, he was on his feet and quickly grabbing the man's arm before he could make it two feet away from the table. The male named Kiku stopped quickly and looked back at Feliciano with a little bit of fear like he made Feliciano mad by speaking to him. The tables around them had gone quiet as slowly but surely Feliciano made himself speak even though it came out almost a whisper "Wait...please."

Kiku nodded slowly and continued to watch him. The Italian released his hold on Kiku's arm after apologizing and then slowly looked up at the Japanese boy directly in the eyes, took a deep breath. "M-My name...is F-Feliciano...Feliciano Morretti..." he said with a nervous and shaky voice. He felt weird lying about his last name, but that's the one his grandfather told him to use if anyone asked. Plus it was also because that it was the name that was on his brand new record (although most of the police charges, suspension records, and reviews from his foster homes were all transferred over).

Kiku's facial expression changed from fear into a soft caring one as he raised his hand and held it out for him to shake "Preased to meet you Morretti-san".

Feliciano blinked again in surprise before smiling back happily and shaking his hand, happy the tension had lifted. After that, Kiku had introduced him to his friends who in turn became good friends with Feliciano. From then on his feeling towards other people changed from not having a care about anything to 'care about the friends you have now like family'. He'd felt more accepted than anytime before then. But even though he was happy he had made friends with other kids in his new school, it still wasn't enough to heal all of his scars (mental ones that is). Even Feliciano himself didn't know if anything would heal those scars or help him forget his past, but he hoped desperately something would and he wanted it soon.

It had been two years since then and he was still going to the same academy (secondary schools in Italy go from age fourteen to nineteen). Feliciano sat on one of the silk outdoor couches on his balcony drawing quietly while listening to his iPod that his grandfather bought him for his thirteenth birthday. He had about thirty minutes before Kiku and Ludwig (a German transfer student with sky blue eyes set behind black square rimmed glasses and blond hair that was always slicked back so his bangs would stay out of his face) arrived to walk with him to the academy. He loved to draw and paint in his free time, but he never liked to show off his art because he never thought that it was impressive. Even though the artwork that he created in his art class was receiving awards in contests that his teacher made everyone in the class enter. He had up to thirty ribbons and medals stored away in a box under his bed from all the contests he either won or came close to winning. He never liked to gloat about his abilities like other kids he knew (specifically one caramel blond, sky blue eyed boy named Alfred Jones who was born in America but moved to Italy when his parents jobs caused them to transfer) and got uncomfortable when he received more compliments than he was used to.

His cat Pooki, a light brown tabby, sat curled up in a ball next to him twitching his ears and tail every now and then as he listened to the birds that chirped close by. Pooki usually was always close by Feliciano when he was at home and would run off to hide when he wasn't, only coming out when he knew Feliciano got back from school or work to greet him. Kiku adored the cat almost as much as Feliciano did and often brought over toys or treats for him. Feliciano was always grateful for his friends help and Pooki was always happy and entertained.

Pooki's ears twitched again as he heard voices getting close to the building and stood up and stretched before rubbing his face against Feliciano's shoulder, earning a scratch behind one of his ears by the Italian's hand. Feliciano smiled and set his sketchbook and pencil aside and stretched. He had began to hum along with the music when a booming German accented voice

rang out loud and clear over the music buzzing in his head through his ears buds. "FELICIANO!" the voice called loudly, making him practically jump out of his skin when the Italian heard it. Feliciano slowly got on his knees to look over the railing and down to the sidewalk below where Kiku and Ludwig stood, Kiku waving happily while Ludwig continued to stare up at him before motioning him to hurry.

Feliciano grinned and waved back quickly. "I'll be down there soon!" he shouted back then scrambled to his feet and ran inside, slipping on his shoes and grabbing his jacket before running toward the front door and skidding to a halt. He turned back around and headed back to the baloney, grabbing his sketch pad and pencil and putting Pooki inside before shutting and locking the balcony doors. He headed to the front door again before remembering something else and running off to his room to grab his backpack and headed back to the door for a third time. "Bye Pooki, I'll be back later!" he shouted back at the cat that was now watching him curiously by the couch in the living room as Feliciano shut and locked the door behind him. He hurried down the four flights of stairs (the only downside to living on the top floor of the apartment building when he was in a hurry) and into the main lobby. He passed the front desk where a little old woman sat quietly in front of all the mini mailboxes that could only hold envelopes and small packages, humming a native tune as she knitted something out of mint green yarn. She looked up as Feliciano passed and pushed her glasses a little farther up on her nose "Heading off to school Feliciano?" she asked in a rich Italian accent that was also crackly from old age.

Feliciano skidded to a halt again before turning around to face her and smiling happily "Si! I'll see you later Ms. Rossi!" he called as he walked to the main doors and exited the building, meeting Ludwig and Kiku in front of the apartment building. He stood between them panting and trying to catch his breath from having run all the way to them. Kiku sighed "You should reary be more prepared before you have to reave to go somewhere Feliciano-chan" his informed matter-of-factly.

"Ja," Ludwig added "I von't vait for you next time if you're late again. It took you fifteen minutes to get down here when it should only take you ten at ze most!"

"M-Mi Dispiace Ludwig... I'll be quicker... next time... P-Promessa!" Feliciano panted out, taking deep breaths to try and control his breathing.

They waited a few minutes for Feliciano before continuing on their path to a bus stop where a lot of their friends were waiting. Feliciano recognized Alfred and his half-brother Matthew Williams (who is older than his brother by three days, has eyes that are so blue to a point they look violet and like his brother, were set behind rectangle shaped glasses, and short, curly, honey- caramel blond hair that had a long curl that hung loosely in front of his face), Arthur Kirkland (a boy all the way from the United Kingdom with emerald green eyes topped with thick eyebrows and light dirty- blond hair that was always messy no matter how hard he tried to make it look uniform), and Ivan Braginski (whose eyes matched his younger sister's only a little more violet and blond hair that looked like Alfred's only a lot lighter). All of them were chatting as the three approached unnoticed and joined the conversation. It wasn't much longer till the bus arrived and all of them climbed on and into the remaining open seats in the back.

The ride to school took longer than normal and when they arrived, they had less than ten minutes to head to their lockers and be ready for their first classes. All seven students bolted for the front of the bus and scrambled to the entrance for the school. As he left his friends and headed to his locker the bell rang, causing his face to pale and send him dashing to his class instead. 'Great,' he thought 'what a great way to start the first day of school'. From then on Feliciano knew his day wasn't going to go great. And boy was he right.

* * *

Feliciano made his way to the cafeteria silently. His entire day had been nothing but quizzes the teachers' always gave on the first day of school to see what the students could remember from the year before. Even though he knew they weren't for a grade, Feliciano still felt like he should have known every answer. Plus it didn't help when all around him people were saying how easy the quizzes were. He also found out that he had completely forgotten to read a book over the summer for a book report that was due next Friday. And to top it all off, he already received week of detention for starting a fight with a guy named Sadik Adnen, because he wouldn't stop talking crap about his grandfather. If his day could get anymore worse than it already was he'd snap soon, and his friends knew how he could get when he snapped (usually violent and bad tempered, his friends also mentioned that his eyes change color but he never saw proof). At this point, he dared someone to give him crap.

His friends sat at their usual table by one of the large windows chatting and laughing like today was just at its grandest. He pick out the largest plate of spaghetti he could find, two slices of garlic bread, and a bottle of water before he made his way to one of the lunch ladies behind a cash register to pay for his food. As he headed toward the table, he noticed the seat he usually sat in by Kiku was still open and waiting like it always was when he arrived. The sight made him a little happier but not enough to stop the mental voice in his head that chanted 'How stupid are you? You failed everything that should be a piece of cake! That was such an idiotic move, moron!' When he arrived at the table he was greeted by all six of his friends, who he replied back with a fake smile or soft "Hey."

When he sat down by Kiku, the Japanese male opened his mouth to speak but shut it quickly and looked down at his food. He tried again but this time, Feliciano spoke before him "I'm fine Kiku, I just had a long morning. Nothing to worry about." His voice came out irritated and cold, making Kiku flinch slightly causing Feliciano to add in a quick apology before sighing and looking down at his food. After staying a small prayer in his head and staring at the mound of pasta and tomato sauce for about two minutes he started to eat slowly at first but then picked up pace when he realized how hungry he was (he often found himself hungrier than usual when he was having a bad day). It wasn't too long before Feliciano ended up tuning into the conversation due to Alfred loud voice interrupting his thoughts "I hear there's a new history teacher! Apparently he took Mr. Haines' place," Alfred cheered before shoving bread in his mouth and taking a huge bite "Hi hurp mruh reprafment isn't borming like hree wrush!"

Arthur glared at him, pure disgust written all over his face. "Finish eating before you speak! I only got 'isn't' and 'like' out of all that! Not to mention how much of a pig it makes you sound." he said, voice full of annoyance.

Alfred pouted and continued chewing his food before swallowing and taking a drink of apple juice to help wash it down "I said, I hope he isn't boring like Mr. Haines was. Guess me and Feliciano will find out in our next class right Feliciano?" he asked, sending all attention to the other end of the table where the Italian male sat with spaghetti dangling from his mouth, earning a few snickers. Feliciano flushed, embarrassed and quickly bit onto the noodles, letting the ends not in his mouth fall back onto his plate. He nodded and licked his lips quickly before preparing for the next bite. Ivan chuckled before adding "I hear the new teacher has a weird obsession with tomatoes. Looks like him and Feliciano would get along just fine seeing how much Feliciano's enjoying his spaghetti da?"

This earned an angry glare as well as a blush from the Italian, who had stood up and was ready to walk right up to the Russian and send a fist into his cheek. Kiku stood up and held his hands up, palms facing Feliciano as he turned to face Ivan and everyone else at their table " Um...Feliciano-chan isn't reary having a good day...I-I think it would bre best frowr us to kreep our jokes from being directed at him if wre don't want him to snap!"

Everyone blinked in surprise at the information they just received before apologizing quickly. It was already too late though because Feliciano grabbed his water bottle and roughly shoved it into his bag then wrapped his bread slices in the napkins he hadn't used yet and left his spaghetti plate (now completely clean of pasta) and silverware by Kiku, not caring if anyone cleaned it up for him or not. He decided to head on to his next class to see if the trip there would help calm him down. When he was sure no one was around to see him, he pulled out his bread slices and started chomping away. He finished eating and wiped off his fingers with the napkins that were wrapped around the slices, then tossed them in a nearby trash can. When Feliciano reached the door to his history class, he stopped himself from automatically grabbing the door knob and peered into the window to check and see if anyone else was inside. He began to second guessed himself and kept checking the room number (r.194, was the number he remembered always marking Mr. Haines room on a little sign next to the door, and sure enough the sign was still there with those exact three numbers) to make sure he was at the right room because he didn't recognize it anymore from what he saw. All the walls inside were no longer the cream color he remembered but a dark golden brown. On the far back wall hung a long bulletin board with flags from almost every country dangling from it, secured only by a single metal thumbtack. On the wall to the right were huge maps of every continents and trade route maps from other allied countries to Italy during the wars. On the last wall he could see, the left wall, sat the three big windows he remembered always finding himself staring out when Mr. Haines speeches seemed to drone on forever, along with posters talking about where the American dropped their atomic bombs on Japan, famous Italian generals, and war tactics. The carpet had been changed too. The old stained orange one had been replaced with a dark blue shaded that looked to have other colors hidden in it.

He took the door knob in his hand, gently turning it and pushing the door open slowly. Inside, it was quiet, like nobody was in there. But as he let the door shut and started to walk into the room, a dart flew directly in front of his face and into the center of a dart board. He stumbled back against the door in surprise and just stared at the dart while to his right, heard an irritated sigh followed by a Spanish/ Italian accented voice "Do you need something kid?"

Feliciano looked quickly, ready to shout twenty curse's in Italian, only to get his voice caught in his throat when his amber eyes met a pair of hazel green eyes that seemed to Pierce his soul and caused his heart to flip three times and skip five beats. The man that owned them had short brown hair that was parted on the left side of his head so his bangs face off toward the right. In the center of the parted area was a curl that didn't completely do a full loop like Matthew's did, but stuck out into the air on the right side of his head (almost like Feliciano's own curl but his was located on the left side). The man didn't look old like most teachers, around twenty three maybe twenty two. He wore a maroon long sleeved button-up shirt with a black undershirt tucked into tan slacks that were secured around his hips by a black belt, and black leather slip on shoes like ones someone would wear to a dance. He was leaning casually against the teacher's desk like he could really care less about the day (or any day for that matter). They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity before Feliciano found his voice again "A-Are you really supposed to be playing freccette in a classroom?"

The other male raised an eyebrow and moved his left sleeve up a little to look at the silver watch that was around his wrist. "Aren't students like you supposed to be stuffing their faces with food for another fifteen minutes?" he asked meeting Feliciano's eyes again.

Feliciano flushed and looked down at his shoes before changing his attention to the wall of flags "My day hasn't been the best and my friends weren't helping my temper, alright?"

The hazel eyed male's face gained an amused look before he opened one of the desk drawers and pulled out a plastic container with a lid. He popped the lid off and held it out to Feliciano. "Churro?" he asked.

Feliciano blinked and looked at him, his face full of confusion 'Was this guy serious? Is he really the new history teacher Alfred was talking about?'

He continued to stare and only made the other Italian male glare at him, getting irritated, and blush slightly "Well you want one or not? My friend Antonio cooked them yesterday and I brought too many with my lunch! If you don't want any then stop gawking like an idiot and pick a seat!" the man snapped.

Feliciano flinched and nodded before quickly walking to a desk by one of the windows. He sat down and covered his head and mumbling an almost silent "Mi Dispiace..." His day was just getting worse by the second.

He heard a sigh and peeked out from under his arm, only to see the other male rubbing the bridge of his nose with his middle finger and thumb, his eyes screwed shut tightly as he tried to calm himself. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to snap. I-I kinda get easily angered over the little things... I d-didn't...mean to yell at you..." his face had begun to flush with both anger and embarrassment and only got worse the more he spoke.

Feliciano looked up at him and gave a small apologetic smile "It's ok...I forgive you". The other looked up and met his eyes to Feliciano's and returned the apologetic smile, causing Feliciano's heart to skip two more beats. 'Why am I getting this weird feeling everytime our eyes meet or when he smiles?' he thought 'Last I checked I wasn't... like that...at least I don't think I am... even if I was it would never work! He's a teacher! I'm his student! Knowing someone like him, he'd never risk his job...Would he?'

His teacher held out the container again "I swear you can have one if you want." he insisted.

Feliciano smiled cheerfully, leaped to his feet, and walked over to him. He grabbed a churro from the container and starting to munch on it. The other smiled and did the same, setting the container by his laptop "What's your name?" he asked, his voice calm now.

"Feliciano Moretti" Feliciano replied and took another bite of the churro in his hand.

The man reached around behind his body and grabbed a piece of paper that, from what Feliciano could see, looked like a role call sheet. Feliciano watched as the male scrolled through the names with his finger until it stopped on his. He reached back and grabbed a pen, then marked a box marked "present" by his name with an 'x'. "Feliciano. Can I call you Feli?" he asked.

Feliciano nodded his heart racing when he heard his new nickname escape the man's lips. He cursed at this; he couldn't believe this person was affecting him this much when he knew he should be feeling nothing.

The other nodded "Nice to meet you then, Feli." he said casually.

Smiling, Feliciano looked to his right and noticed a wall that used to have nothing but quotes from explorers and ancient battle scene posters hanging around the two large blackboards, now was covered in posters only of tomatoes. Tomato pictures, tomato facts, tomato based food, people harvesting tomatoes, basically anything involving tomatoes was in a picture there on this wall. "What's with all of the tomatoes mister...uh...?" he really didn't know the guy's name yet. If Alfred had said it at the lunch table before he left, he definitely didn't catch (even though in reality, it's hard not to catch what Alfred usually says. If you missed something, you were bound to hear it later).

"Vargas," the man said after Feliciano didn't finish "And I like them." he added before following Feliciano's gaze and looking at the wall. "I used to live near a tomato plantation in Spain and I grew to like them".

"Love is more like it." Feliciano said with a smile gaining a chuckle out of the older man.

"Yeah...you can say that." he paused before picking up another dart and throwing it, hitting a spot in the fifteen point column.

"Can I try?" Feliciano asked as he picked up another churro and started to eat it.

Mr. Vargas raised an eyebrow and the amused look reappeared onto his face (which for some reason, Feliciano thought it made look more handsome than before) again "You sure?"

Feliciano nodded and wiped the powdered sugar from the churro off one of his hands and onto his _Blood in Venice_ T-shirt, then picked up one of the darts sitting beside Mr. Vargas. He held a churro in one hand and the dart in the other and stood focusing on the target. When he was ready, he pulled the dart back by his ear and threw it. The two watched as the dart flew into the black area between the seven and the nineteen. Feliciano frowned and pouted, turning to face Mr. Vargas who smirked and looked away to keep from laughing directly to his face. Feliciano blushed "Don't laugh! It's not funny!"

Mr. Vargas waved a hand as if to dismiss something "No! No! It's just... your facial expression was just too funny!" he continued to snicker before looking up and smiling warmly, causing Feliciano to blush a deeper red as he grabbed another dart and prepared to throw it. Mr. Vargas stopped him "Wait, wait, let me help. Hold the dart like you're an Englishman holding a teacup. You know pinky out and all that gentlemen crap?" he demonstrated this and held it so Feliciano could see.

Feliciano looked from his hand to the other males and tried to make them look the same "Like this?" he asked.

Mr. Vargas sighed "No I said pinky out, not like it's a pencil" he said as he took a hold of Feliciano's hand in his. Feliciano blushed and watched as the male started to rearrange his fingers gently. Then he stepped back, his hazel- green eyes meeting amber. "Alright, now try" he said confidently.

Feliciano nodded slowly and took a few calming breaths before sending the dart flying into the green area around the center. He stood there, eyes wide and mouth agape, before he turned to Mr. Vargas and slowly smiled. The male nodded with a congratulatory smile before it slowly disappeared as he looked at his watch "Damnit I totally forgot, I need to head down to the office before the next class!" Feliciano blinked, never hearing a teacher cuss in front of him so casually and watched him quickly hide away the darts and dart board in a desk drawer and putting the container of remaining churros on top of them. He headed to the door and stopped, turning to Feliciano. "I'll be right back. Don't let anyone do anything stupid got it? I can trust you right?" he asked.

Feliciano nodded 'If you saw my record you would never have asked that' "Of course!"

He received a quick nod from his teacher before the older man headed back to his desk and grabbed some papers from his desk, then headed out the door. Feliciano stared silently at the door realizing his day might not be so bad after all.

* * *

**Authors Note: Hello people who decided to read my first FF. I am so very great full. If anyone has a good ItalyxRoamano picture that could represent this story, send me a pm message with the link and make sure it's free to use. I have a few picked out and saved from but I don't know if I can use any of them. If you think I can let me know in a pm message also. Oh and I will post chapters after I finish corrections between me and my friend who has agreed to be my editor.**

**~Thanks Ve!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Translations at the end! Enjoy!**

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Lovino walked at a quick pace back towards his classroom. The bell that signaled for students to move to their next class had just rang, and Lovino had exactly five minutes to get back upstairs to his classroom before he'd really worry. Sure he trusted Feliciano, but he didn't know why he did! He just met the kid for crying out loud! You weren't supposed to trust students this quickly unless you've had them in class for a few days, not on your first day of the job! Plus the fact that he looked obviously Goth made it worse! You could definitely not trust someone like that unless you watched how they behave when you're around and when you aren't! _'What a damn great first impression Vargas. Just what you need. A whole class full of teenagers that think you're the best because you're not there to greet them properly like other teachers. Your brother would have made a perfect first impression according to what Nonno said in the letter. Great! Now my day is worse because I just compared myself to my useless baby brother who's some stupid moron who only chooses to be serious when he wants to be!' _Lovino sighed and stopped in the middle of the hallway, rubbing his right temple with his eyes shut tightly as he tried to calm down.

The letter that he received from his grandfather practically screamed that his brother was the perfect child someone could ever ask for; happy about everything, kept things organized and clean, and as a bonus he was a good artist. Basically everything that Lovino was not. His grandfather described everything about the brat to him in that letter and it seemed he didn't care if it caused Lovino to go into a state of uselessness depression. All that mattered to his grandfather was the fact that that brat was more useful and perfect than Lovino ever could be. He was said to be somewhere here in Italy and his grandfather had told Lovino he had a week to try and find the boy on his own before he'd step in and arrange for them to meet in Spain. Lovino never wanted to come to Italy, but after an incident in Spain a few years ago, he didn't want to stay there either.

The bell rang again to signal the five minutes to pass through the halls were up and also snapped Lovino out of his thoughts. He cursed in his head before he half walked half jogged the rest of the way. He wondered if any of his prized tomato posters (or anything he wasted money on to make that classroom look better than shitty) would be ruined. That thought only made him pissed, which caused him to run full speed the rest of the way. He began to slow down when he was a few feet from the door and took a few deep breaths to calm his heart beat and his breathing. He then straightened up his shirt and hair a little before he grabbed the doorknob slowly. Lovino took another deep breath, exhaled, and pushed the door open. From what he could see, everything was how he left it just minutes ago. Except now, twenty out of twenty- five of the student desks were now occupied with teenagers. Feliciano sat at the desk he chose talking to some blond haired kid with glasses who wore a _Captain America_ T-shirt, jeans that were ripped at the knees, and black sneakers that had buckles instead of laces.

Lovino sighed and shut the door, the teenage voices dimming to silence. As he walked to his desk he felt all twenty pairs of eyes watching him, like they were waiting for him to do some heart-stopping magic trick. He picked up the role call sheet for this class, a clipboard, and a pen before looking up at them. "Welcome to my world history class. I'm your teacher Mr. Vargas and when I call out your name, you'll stand and answer with something about yourself. That doesn't mean a whole paragraph just a few quick sentences." He stated and looked up, gaining nods and groans before he leaned against the front of his desk. He looked down at the first name he saw (they weren't in any order so it didn't really matter where he started) "Jett Taylor?"

The boy who stood had brown hair that looked slicked back on the top with two short strands that curled back and slightly stood out. He had pale green eyes topped with dark thick eyebrows and wore an Australian soccer jersey, tan khaki shorts, and a band aid across the bridge of his nose that didn't look like it needed to be there. "I like to hang out with my friends and go to the local arcade!" he stated proudly in an Australian accent and earned a few snickers from his classmates.

Lovino nodded and placed an 'x' in the present box by his name then went on. "Elizabeta Héderváry?" he asked.

A girl with long brown hair held out of her face by an orange flower clip above her ear and green eyes stood up next. She wore a striped white and yellow shirt that barely covered her stomach and dark green shorts "I enjoy being outside and I'm on the academy's softball team." she said with a smile, a Hungarian accent present in her voice.

"And enjoy to beat people with frying pans." the blond who sat by Feliciano added almost too loudly, earning a glare from Elizabeta and a roar of laughter from everyone else.

Lovino raised an eyebrow before he looked at the blond. He noticed a strand of his hair stuck up in the parting that was down the right side of his head and seemed to bounce freely The Italian frowned."Hey, big mouthed hot-shot, did your mother forget to teach you manners or something?" Lovino asked with glare.

The boy blinked in surprise before he answered, "Huh?"

Lovino rolled his eyes, "Well you obviously would rather talk when it's not your turn than when it is. So go ahead. Talk. I'm dying to hear what you have to say more than anyone else." This earned a few oo's and snickers, even one from Feliciano.

The boy blushed with embarrassment, "Nah...I'll just...wait." he said slowly and looked away while he rubbed the back of his head with his hand.

Lovino smirked and went on to the next name. He continued to randomly pick names from different spots on the list. He called out a few names of people who weren't here and checked the boxes marked absent with an 'x'. "Alfred F. Jones," he read and saw the blond boy stand "See? Wasn't it worth the wait?" he asked.

The boy only grinned and replied "Sure whatever," before he continued a little too enthusiastically "I play video games anytime I want and I'm on the academy's soccer, basketball, and baseball teams!" The blonde earned some chuckles and a few whispers from two Italian girls who he grinned and winked at.

Lovino rolled his eyes and checked off his name. "Good to know," he said before going on and grinning when his eyes hit a name he recognized "Feliciano Morretti?"

He watched the Italian blink in surprise before he stood up slowly "Um...well... I guess I'm a good artist...at least that's what other people say...and I work as a gondolier after school." he

Lovino blinked before he smiled and pretended to check off Feliciano's name. He continued calling out and marking names until all of them were checked off, then looked up. "Alright, you have the rest of the time to do what you want as long as it doesn't involve the flags on the bulletin board or anything else that's mine." Lovino stated as he stood up, walked behind his desk, and sat in the padded office chair that waited there. He yawned and opened his laptop, then clicked on an icon with two black playing cards that faced away from him and one facing toward him showing an Ace of Spades marked by a white word reading _Solitaire_. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Feliciano watched him from his seat by the window, with curiosity written all over his face. Lovino glanced up and smiled at the younger Italian, who blinked and smiled back, a slight redness to his cheeks.

Lovino looked back down at his laptop, only to look back up again to see Feliciano had begun to chat happily with Alfred. _'I swear he just blushed... But that doesn't mean anything... does it? Does he not feel well...? No that can't be, he looks perfectly fine and happy. Maybe it was just something Alfred said to Feli that caused him to blush like that. No you moron he looked right at you when he blushed and seemed to not be listening to a word that Alfred was saying when it happened...! So does that mean...he might _like_ me...? He is kind of cute... With those big amber eyes that really don't need that thick line of eyeliner smeared under them...That smile...warm and joyful looking, making anyone else smile and happy just by seeing it... And his lips just look so... delicate and soft... like they've never been claimed by anyone else-...Wait...WHY THE HELL DID I JUST THINK THAT!? I'm his teacher! He's my student! Plus he's a guy!'_

"Mr. Vargas? Excuse me Mr. Vargas?" a female voice asked and caused Lovino to be snapped out of his thoughts.

"Huh? Yes what do you need?" he asked and looked away from Feliciano to the girl, who was that Hungarian girl, Elizabeta, Alfred had interrupted.

"May I go to the library with Jane and Holly?" she asked and motioned to a redheaded girl with blue eyes and a blond pixie-like girl with green eyes.

"Sure, Don't bother me by getting into trouble got it? I can trust that you won't right?" he asked with a quizzical expression and caused the girl to blush a deep red. What was with everyone in this school? Every time he passed a group of girls in the hallway, they'd all watch him and start to giggle or whisper about him. Same with female teachers during his lunch break. Sometimes he overheard male students complain to their friends that Lovino hogged all of the girl's attention. While the male teachers would argue that he was too young to be a teacher.

"Y-Yeah of course you can sir!" she replied and handed him three school agendas to sign so they could pass in the halls and not receive detentions from other teachers.

He signed them all _L. Vargas_ and handed them back to her before he returned to his laptop and started a new game of _Solitaire_. He played eight games and quit after he saw the total games played and total games won ratio (one hundred seventy eight to seventy eight that equaled a total of one hundred loses) and pulled out the container of churros from the desk drawer where he had stashed it, the dartboard, and darts in. He pried the lid off the container and pulled out one of the seven remaining churros, then took a large bite off one end. He chewed silently while pulling up the _Facebook_ homepage and logged onto his account. He had barely been on for five minutes when he received a message from Antonio: **'Lovi! How has your first day been? Mine's dull because you're not here to keep me company! ='('**

Lovino growled slightly and then typed quickly: **'It's fine, and I told you to look for a job you lazy bastard! And don't say things like that! It's weird!'**

Less than two minutes after he sent his reply, Antonio replied: **'Calm down Lovi I have been! I've had five job interviews today and I have five more tomorrow! Watch your language by the way! You're in a room full of children I bet right? Don't influence them to cuss like sailors whenever they want!'**

The Italian glared at his screen and grumbled typing a colorful reply in Spanish: **'No me digas qué hacer, hijo de puta marica española! Puedo decir lo que quiero, cuando quiero! Así que vete a la mierda! Y estos niños ya hablan como los marineros malditos! Ellos no me necesitan para influir sobre ellos de mierda!'**

It took longer for Antonio to reply this time but when he did, it made Lovino groan: **'HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Wow Lovino! I never knew you knew all that! I have to say I'm impressed! XD'**

Lovino logged out after that, too annoyed to continue to talk to the Spanish male. It wasn't long before he felt his phone vibrate slightly in his pocket. He pulled it out, opened it, and glared at the ID of the sender. _New Message from Antonio_ the black letters read above a picture of an envelope. Lovino pressed the 'ok' button to open the message and read:

**From: Antonio**

**Subject: I'm sorry!**

**Message: Awww don't be like that Lovi! I'm sorry I made you mad! Don't hate me!**

Lovino sighed and shut his phone before laying it on his desk. He knew he should be the one to cook tonight to make it up to the Spaniard. He didn't really care though. After he'd been forced to eat so much Spanish food that had not even a single tomato located or called for in the entire meal really made him irritated. So much so that he practically begged his Spanish friend to let him cook the next night's meal. Maybe pizza would be good for tonight...or spaghetti...lasagna sounds good too... yeah, lasagna with four different Italian cheeses sounds really good. That with some wine and Cannoli's for dessert sounds _really_ good.

The bell that signaled the end of class rang and snapped him from his thoughts. He looked at the clock on the wall above the door and then at his watch before he looked up to watch his students leave. Feliciano smiled at him and waved as he walked toward the door causing Lovino to raise his hand as a loose wave back. When he heard the door close he leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. He began to slowly spin around in a circle until his eyes caught something black sitting on a desk close to one of three windows. He stood up, walked over, and noticed what he saw was a sketch book about an inch thick with a smoky black leather cover, kept securely shut with a black elastic closure. He carefully lifted the black strip of elastic over the corners and edges of the book and lifted up the front cover. Inside on the first page were hand drawn Italian flags as well as many other country flags surrounding a small handwritten note reading: _Property of Feliciano. If you don't care, don't look._ Lovino smirked and flipped through the pages. Most of the drawings were sketches of bowls of fruit or animals (mostly cats and birds) colored in with colored pencil or shaded with pencil, but there were occasional drawings of people too. He recognized all of them as students he had in earlier classes (like that Russian kid Ivan, the German transfer student Ludwig, the blond British kid Arthur, and the quiet Japanese student Kiku). He could even recognize that big-mouthed Jones kid with and his half-brother, Matthew, who teachers often got mixed up with his brother because they apparently to most of the teachers looked exactly alike. All of them in perfect detail, like the sketches had all been photos first and Feliciano copied them all without a mistake!

Lovino hit a blank page marked by a black ribbon and a folded piece of paper. He carried the book back to his desk and sat down in his chair, then picked up the folded piece of paper and set the book in his lap. When he unfolded it, he was a tad bit confused. It was a picture of a little boy around three with hazel green eyes and short brown hair that had a small curl poking out from the right side of his head. He wore a yellow T-shirt and dark blue gym shorts that went to his knees over fair toned skin that was slightly tanned. The child held a red and yellow rubber ball and seemed to glare directly at you but was really intended to be for whoever took his picture. Lovino gave a soft chuckle as his door opened and a group of students that were most likely in his next class walked in, chatting amongst themselves and not seeming to notice his presence. He sighed and put the picture back in Feliciano's sketch book before he laid it on his desk. _'Just one more class Lovino, then you can go home and relax.' _he thought right as the bell rang and signaled for the next class to start.

Feliciano hadn't realized he had forgotten his sketchbook in Mr. Vargas's classroom until after his choir class. He had tried to convince his Spanish teacher, Ms. Collins, at the start of his last class if he could run back and get it but she said he had to stay for the lesson because she didn't want to repeat herself due to his absence. So he was forced to wait till after his last class of the day before he could head back to retrieve his sketchbook. In any case, he hoped Mr. Vargas found it and made sure no one else took it. If anyone else found it instead, then he would have to hope that the thought of burning it or shredding it didn't come to their minds. His drawings, friends, and what he had now where what mattered more to him than anything.

He turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. "Mr. Varg-?" he began only to stop and bite his bottom lip to keep himself silent. Mr. Vargas lay peacefully asleep on a group of desks pulled together so the wooden surfaces formed a large rectangle barely as long as him. His right hand held an open book down on his chest and dark green reading glasses rested on the bridge of his nose, his right leg lay straight across the smooth surface of three desks while his left leg sat on one in a ninety degree angle. Feliciano tip- toed over to Mr. Vargas's desk and started to look through the various stacks of papers. When he saw no sign of his sketchbook he decided to check the desk drawers incase Mr. Vargas thought to stash it there. He reached for one drawer and started to pull it open, which caused a loud squeak to ring out in the empty classroom. Feliciano flinched when he heard a soft groan and looked up to see Mr. Vargas's face faced toward his direction still asleep. Feliciano sighed softly and noticed (with some relief and some dread) that his sketchbook lay on the space beside Mr. Vargas's head, on the side farthest away from Feliciano.

The younger Italian snuck over silently until he stood directly in front of the group of desks. He moved a bit closer and leaned in, his right hand rested on a desk to keep his balance while his left hand reached for his sketch book. Feliciano's face hovered over Mr. Vargas', making a slight deep blush creep across his cheeks _'Oh god Mr. Vargas please don't wake up any time soon!'_ he thought and continued to reach, causing him to move a tad bit closer to his sleeping teacher. Why didn't he just walk around the group of desks and get his sketchbook that way? Oh right, because the thought for some reason didn't appear in his mind until after his hand was a few inches from the sketchbook. When his hand finally touched the smooth black leather cover, he let out a small sigh of relief and began to lift it carefully. Just as he began to straighten up, his right hand moved out from under him and caused him to lose his balance. He caught it quickly, but hit his leg against the metal leg of one of the desks.

The desk vibrated from the impact and caused Mr. Vargas to groan and shut his eyes tighter before they snapped open, his hazel-green eyes meeting Feliciano's amber ones before going wider. "Holy sh-!" Mr. Vargas began as he started to sit up quickly, only to smack foreheads with Feliciano instead.

Feliciano stumbled back and fell onto his butt as he rubbed his head and repeated over and over "Mi dispiace, mi dispiace, mi dispiace, mi dispiace, mi dispiace!"

Mr. Vargas on the other hand, had rolled off the desks onto the side furthest away from Feliciano and was now on the floor. He groaned in pain from the combination of his fall and the impact to his head before he sighed and slowly sat up. "Wh- What the hell... were you doing?... A-Are you... out of your mind... or something... idiota?" he asked panting slightly as he started to stand up and glanced toward Feliciano, who hid his face in his hands.

Feliciano moved his fingers apart to look at the older Italian before he replied slowly and hesitantly "I-I wanted... to get my sketchbook... and when I saw that you w-were asleep... I didn't want to bother you... s-so I tried to get it... and not disturb you in the process... but I lost my balance... Mi dispiace..."

Mr. Vargas sighed and held a hand out to help Feliciano up "It's fine, just feel free to wake me next time alright?"

Feliciano took his hand and nodded slowly while he let himself be pulled to his feet. Mr. Vargas walked back to his desk silently and began to stuff some papers and his laptop into a brown leather bag before he hoisted it onto his shoulder. He checked his watch and cursed "Hey do you need a ride? The busses scheduled to pick up students to take them home are probably all gone now."

The younger Italian blinked in surprise before answering hesitantly "Um... n-no I'm fine. I still need to stop by my locker anyway." The last thing he wanted was to be alone... in a car... with his teacher... who he kinda sorta might have a small crush on.

Mr. Vargas shook his head "I'll wait by the exit to the teacher's parking lot on the bottom floor. Besides, you said you had a job to go to after school right? You'll most likely be late if you have to go somewhere first." the older stated as they walked out of the classroom.

Feliciano nodded slowly and promised to not be long before he dashed off down the hall, taking the longer route to the stairs that led to the second floor. After he dialed in the wrong locker combination three times, he finally pulled open his locker door and packed some books, a notebook, and his sketchbook into his satchel. He slammed the locker door shut and dashed toward exit he agreed to meet Mr. Vargas at. Halfway there he slowed down and listened for any sort of sound. _'What if he was kidding about the whole thing? What if I took too long and he got bored or thought I really didn't want the ride and already left?'_ so many thoughts buzzed through his head as he neared the final corner that led into the hallway leading to the exit. All of them were quieted when he heard the sound of someone clear their throat. There staring out the windows by the glass exit door deep in thought, stood his handsome world history teacher who had not yet heard Feliciano approach.

Feliciano coughed slightly which caused the older to look back at him quickly and smile as a greeting (which secretly caused Feliciano's heart to skip two beats). Mr. Vargas held the door open for him and made the hot summer air rush in, then led him toward the parking lot specifically for teachers use only. It wasn't long till Feliciano noticed they were walking toward a 2010 red Infiniti G37 Cabrio Convertible, the top up to give shade from the hot sun. Mr. Vargas walked to the driver's side and unlocked the car before he looked up at Feliciano, who stood five feet from the car, eyes wide and focused only on the car itself. "What's wrong Feli?" Mr. Vargas asked and smirked at his expression.

Feliciano blinked and looked up to meet his gaze "Th-Th-This is your c-c-car?" Feliciano asked voice full of shock mixed with confusion.

Mr. Vargas raised an eyebrow and held up the car keys "Uh yeah, I have the keys for it right here. Hurry up and get in!"

Feliciano nodded quickly and walked over. He pulled the car door of the passenger side open and slipped into the seat before he began to run his hands over the smooth black leather interior. He was so focused on the smooth surface that he didn't hear the driver's side car door shut. When silence followed, Feliciano glanced over and found Mr. Vargas watching him with an amused look. "M-Mi dispiace" his whispered as a deep blush of embarrassment stained his cheeks.

Mr. Vargas laughed as he put the key in the ignition and turned the car on, which caused Feliciano to jump slightly as the roared to life under him "You're really weird, but I find it funny and a little... never mind. Put your seatbelt on and enjoy the ride."

The younger Italian did what he was told and set his satchel on the floor board by his feet, then slowly relaxed into the seat. Mr. Vargas put the car in reverse and backed out of his parking stall, then put the car in drive and exited the parking lot.

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**Translated Words:**

**Lovino's message to Antonio:**

**Don't tell me what to do, you Spanish pansy bastard! I can say what I want, when I want! So fuck you! And these kids already speak like damn sailors! They don't need me to fucking influence them! ( If you try to prove me wrong and go to google translate and copy paste the words in it'll come out mixed up so this is what I typed)**

**Feliciano's repeated words to Lovino:**

**I'm sorry x5**


	4. Chapter 3

The ride from the school to the apartment complex was silent at first, mainly because Feliciano had been trying to calm down from his car outburst. Mr. Vargas' car smelt of Spanish and Italian cigarettes, pine trees, tomatoes, and brand new leather. The car was also cleaner than he expected. Feliciano knew most men around Mr. Vargas' age usually had at least one stain in their car, but from what he could see; the car looked spotless, brand new even! Either Mr. Vargas really cared about his stuff or someone else did for him. He turned his head a tad bit to look at the other male out of the corner of his eye. The older Italian had one elbow propped up on the car door to hold his head, while the other gripped the steering wheel. His eyes were locked on the road ahead, but also looked like they were deep in thought and showed a slight sadness. Just like back at the school when he had been waiting for Feliciano at the exit. Feliciano took a deep breath then asked "Are you feeling alright Mr. Vargas?"

"Hm?" Mr. Vargas hummed as he looked up at Feliciano then back at the road. "Yes Feli I'm fine, just a little tired." he said with a small sigh.

Feliciano frowned and looked down at his hands that rested on his knees _'You look sad, I don't call that fine'_ he thought. They sat in silence before an idea popped into Feliciano's head. "Talk to me then." he stated and turned to face the older Italian.

"What?" Mr. Vargas asked as he looked up at the younger again and placed the hand he had used as a head-rest onto the steering wheel.

The younger smiled a tad bit "Talk to me so you don't end up falling asleep!"

The older blinked in surprise and blushed a little before he looked back at the road. "Talk to you about what then? You can pick the subject I guess..." he replied.

Feliciano thought a bit before he answered "Payback for today in class! Tell me something about yourself. And I don't want a big paragraph!"

The corner of Mr. Vargas's mouth twitched upward a little before he replied. "What do you want to know then?"

Feliciano already had an answer "Have you been living in Italy for long? Cause if you have I haven't seen you around before today!"

Mr. Vargas chuckled a little. "No, I mean I was born in Italy but I moved to Spain with my dad when I was young."

"Why did you move to Italy? I mean Spain's probably way better than Italy right?" Feliciano wondered. He'd never been to Spain before and by the pictures he had seen on the internet, it looked a lot more interesting than Italy.

Mr. Vargas smiled a little "I've only been here for a few weeks, plus I don't remember much from the years I spent here when I was younger. So I can't really compare the two just yet. As for why I moved here... I have to look for my little brother. He's supposed to be somewhere in Italy, but so far I haven't found anything. I mean, the only thing I have to go off of is a picture of the kid for Christ sake! And I have to find him in a week! That's not enough time if all I got is a picture!"

Feliciano blinked "Picture?"

The older glanced up at him, his expression slowly changed from an irritated one to one a tad bit calmer "There's a planner with a dark brown leather cover in my bag. There's a picture taped to the inside of the cover. You can look at it if you want. My bag's on the floor behind my seat."

Feliciano looked back and spotted the older Italian's bag (right where he said it would be), then grabbed one of the two short handles and pulled it closer to his seat. He unzipped the zipper that kept the bag closed, then searched for the planner Mr. Vargas had mentioned. He pushed past a dark grey laptop, a thick red folder full of lesson plans for the week, two cigarette boxes (one a Spanish brand and the other an Italian brand), and the container of churros that was about empty before he finally spotted the planner hidden under the laptop. He set the bag down by his satchel and lifted the front cover. Just like Mr. Vargas said, a picture was taped to the back of the front cover.

The boy in it looked about three or four and short brown hair with a curl the poked out on the left side of his head like Feliciano's. His eyes were a deep amber color that shined brightly with happiness but secretly hid another emotion deep within them. He was wearing plaid white and blue cargo shorts, a white t shirt with a blue bear that held its arms out with a speech bubble that read 'Hug Me?', and dark blue sandals. Behind the boy stood an African woman in a gray maid uniform who watched the child with a sad smile. Her appearance was that of a thirty-five year old but her figure looked weak, like she was slowly dying of a deathly illness that wouldn't allow her to keep food in her stomach. Feliciano slowly looked up at Mr. Vargas as he spoke "You sound like you hate him even though he's just a toddler. Why? What'd he ever do to you?"

Mr. Vargas looked up at the younger Italian and sighed. "FYI, that photo was taken a long time ago according to my grandfather, so that kid is no longer a toddler. And I don't hate the kid I'm just…" his voice slowly softened to a whisper so Feliciano couldn't hear the last word.

Feliciano watched him before he slowly asked, "You're just what?"

Mr. Vargas sighed "I'm Jealous of the brat alright? Just don't… tell anyone..." he confessed as an embarrassed blush spread across his cheeks.

Feliciano smiled softly before he leaned forward and pulled out his sketch book. He flipped to the black ribbon that marked his next blank page and picked up the folded photo of his brother. He unfolded it and held it into the light "I'm like you with my brother. I haven't heard from him or seen him recently but from what I heard my mother tell my grandfather on the phone a few years ago, he's more successful than I ever could ever be in my whole life." Feliciano went silent and his expression became one that matched his brother's in the picture.

Silence followed in the car until Feliciano felt a hand ruffle his hair gently. He blushed slightly and looked up, meeting a kind smile from Mr. Vargas which caused Feliciano to blush a deeper red. Mr. Vargas looked back at the road as he spoke "You still have to pass school first. And by the grades I've seen in your records, you have nothing to be ashamed of. Plus that boy is probably just a total spoiled jackass".

Feliciano laughed a little and nodded slightly as Mr. Vargas pulled his car into the parking lot of the apartment complex. He pulled up in front of the building and put the car in 'park' as an idea popped into Feliciano's head. "Why don't we team up to look for them? I mean I don't really want to see my brother but if you want I could deal with it if you need to find yours that badly!" _'If it means getting to spend more time alone with you I'll do anything!' _he thought.

Mr. Vargas blinked in surprise and blushed "Uh…um… sure I-I guess… i-if you want th-that'd be fine" he stuttered out and looked away and out the driver's side window.

Feliciano nodded and began to get out of the car and grabbed his satchel from the floor. He laid Mr. Vargas's planner in his seat and shut the car door, then began to head for the main door. He stopped when a familiar voice shouted his name from behind him. "Hey Feli?" Mr. Vargas called out from the open passenger car door window.

The younger Italian turned to face him and smile. "Yes?" he asked.

The older Italian smirked "You can only help if I get a free gondola tour whenever I want."

Feliciano blushed and replied with a small nod. The older Italian's smirk widened before he rolled up the car door window. He watched as Mr. Vargas's car exited the parking lot and screeched before it sped away and out of sight. Feliciano watched in ah, his heart pounding wildly in his chest, before he remembered he had a job to take care of and made his way up to his apartment quickly.

Antonio Fernández Carriedo pulled into the driveway of his Italian country home. He had just finished his grocery shopping and had bought enough food to last a month and a half for him and Lovino. He would have been home sooner but between the flirting female cashier and the food samples that caused him to buy a lot of ingredients that weren't on his shopping list, he spent a lot more time and a lot more money than he had planned to. _'Looks like I'll need to hide the receipt again so Lovi won't yell at me for "wasting money" again.'_ Antonio thought with a small chuckle. The Spaniard turned off his car after he parked beside Lovino's car under the stone awning, and began to unload the groceries. After he filled two medium sized boxes full of grocery bags and carrying the rest on his arms, he successfully made his way into the large gold-ish red kitchen. He set the boxes on the counter and the bags on the island in the center of the kitchen. "Lovi? I'm home!" he called out to the other, but when the Spanish male didn't receive a reply, he began to search the enormous three level house. After he had searched for fifteen minutes and hollered the Italian's name for the fourteenth time, he found the young male standing on the grand terrace that overlooked the large pool in the backyard and had a great view of the ocean. The Italian had his elbows resting on the white wire railing and held a glass of wine in one hand and a cigarette in the other. The Spaniard knew something was wrong by how quiet the younger male was.

Antonio walked toward him slowly until he stood directly behind him. "Lovi? Did you have a bad day at school or something?"

The Italian sighed and took a sip of wine. "Fuck off" he scoffed.

The Spaniard chuckled "Aw come on Lovi, don't be like that. Tell boss what's wrong."

The younger just frowned and said nothing but took a drag from his cigarette. He exhaled a cloud of smoke slowly before he mumbled something that Antonio couldn't understand. The Spanish male raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry what did you say? I couldn't understand you." he informed the younger.

Lovino turned and glared at him, "I said I may be in love again alright!?" he shouted, irritation clear in his voice.

Antonio smiled happily and smacked the Italian on his back, causing the Italian to choke on some wine and began to cough wildly. "That's great Lovi! Who is she? Is she hot? Does she work at the same school you do? Or did you meet her in town? Tell me Lovi! Please?" the Spaniard asked quickly, his happiness overflowing for his best friend.

The Italian didn't answer; instead he straightened up, put out his cigarette, and turned to head back into the house. He set down his glass of wine on a stone ledge and headed inside. Antonio frowned and followed after him. "You don't want to be in love do you? Why Lovi? Tell me!" he paused before adding the next question "Is it because you haven't gotten over Michelle yet? Lovi if you don't move on soon you'll just end up staying miserable and stuck in the past for the rest of your life!"

Lovino growled before he turned and grabbed the Spanish man by his shirt before he shoved him against the wall roughly, his face full of rage and hurt. "You know nothing about what I went through, damnit! Don't you dare tell me what to do you ass! You didn't have to watch the love of your life die right in front of you in your arms! You didn't have to lie to her and tell her everything was going to be fine as you drove like a madman through the streets of Spain with the damn mafia chasing after you! You didn't find out she was pregnant with your child after the pathologist performed the autopsy! You didn't spend money on an engagement ring that you now have no damn use for because the girl you were going to ask to marry you was now dead because you couldn't fucking protect her!" tears had begun to spill from Lovino's eyes as he screamed his sorrow out to the older male. He looked down before he added "It's not that... I don't want to fall in love... I'm just afraid to... I fear that… I'll either forget her… or the person I… fall in love with next… will end up dead too…!"

Antonio didn't mean to upset the younger male; he just wanted an answer to his questions. So when the Italian released the older male's shirt, the Spaniard pulled him into a tight embrace. Lovino sobbed quietly into the man's shoulder while Antonio tried to calm him by murmuring apologies in Spanish. Lovino pushed away from him after he had heard eight different apologise and ran down a flight of stairs leading to the second floor. Antonio flinched when he heard a door slam shut, informing him the Italian had locked himself in his room for the time being. The Spaniard sighed and headed back down to the kitchen. He began to unpack and put away groceries before he caught site of the calendar. Today's date was colored in with black sharpie like most of the other calendars in the house. It was Lovino's way of trying to erase a certain days from his memories, ones he never wanted to think about but usually ended up remembering them anyways. Antonio only knew about five of those blackened days, one was when Lovino and Michelle met (which he didn't realize was today until now), and the other four was the day and days after she died. Antonio sighed, 'Lord please help Lovi. He needs someone now more than ever.'


	5. Chapter 4

**I'm really sorry this took so long! If I get any excuse it's writers block and distractions. But I hope you all like this chapter!**

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Mr. Vargas wasn't at school the next day. Feliciano had planned to discuss with the older male about their search plans, but when he walked into the classroom and found a different man at Mr. Vargas' desk, he knew his hunch about the other Italian being sad about something was right. He knew the distant look the older had worn the whole car ride to the apartment complex was a bad sign. That's why after he asked if the older was alright he wanted to change the subject after he heard the other Italian's tired and depressed tone of voice. What was so bad about that day that would cause someone like Mr. Vargas to completely shut off his calm, no- crap- taking, demeanor he had shown during class? But the real question was; why would he let Feliciano of all people see him in that state? Mr. Vargas couldn't possibly already be comfortable around Feliciano enough to let him see his hidden emotions. Could he?

On Friday during lunch, Feliciano sat at the same table he always did with his friends. They had made plans to all ride in Feliciano's gondola and then buy junk food as they headed back to Feliciano's apartment to play video games, chat, and (for mostly just Arthur) get drunk off the alcoholic beverages Ivan was somehow always able to sneak into the apartment complex. Ms. Rossi did catch them once but she said that as long as they didn't make too much racket, she wouldn't tell anyone.

The bell rang to signal lunch was over and for every student to move to their next classes. Feliciano took his trash to one of the large trash cans and dropped it in, then walked next to Alfred as they headed toward their history class. The Italian had completely tuned the America out and let his thoughts race around his brain. _'Will he be gone again? Or will he be here but be secretly sad? I've never seen someone look so depressed before. I mean some of the kids that I lived with in the foster homes would go through a depression stage; cutting themselves with razor blades, setting things on fire and watching them burn, starting fights with other foster kids, or screaming. But none of them looked the way Mr. Vargas did Wednesday. I want to ask him, but I'm afraid he'll shrug me off and let himself be swallowed up in his sorrow. Something tells me if he does let himself be swallowed up… no one will be able to bring him back.' _The young Italian took a deep breath and swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat before he looked up to where the older Italian would sit.

His heart skipped two beats from what he saw. Mr. Vargas stood facing his wall of tomato posters, his right hand holding a text book while the left held his phone to his ear. He chatted loudly to whoever was on the other end of the phone in a mix of Italian and a little Spanish. His expressions were ones of irritation but his tone was happy and filled with life. He held the phone away from his ear at some points when the person on the other end of the call began to complain about something that was inaudible. Feliciano froze when Mr. Vargas' hazel eyes made contact with his amber ones. The older smiled at him before returning his focus to the person on the phone. Feliciano sighed before he beamed a smile back and headed to his seat. The bell rang and signaled Mr. Vargas to hang up on the person he was talking to. He turned to face everyone in the room, crossed his arms, and leaned against his desk. "Well I did plan to start the first history lesson, but due to the report I received from the substitute for Thursday you have two options. One is continue with the original plan and the second options is screw the lesson and finish the movie the sub had picked out." The class snickered and grinned at the older's choice of words before they all agreed on option number two.

Mr. Vargas pulled the projector screen down over the wall of flags, then turned off all the lights. He turned on the projector and selected the spot in the movie where the sub had stopped. Feliciano continued to face the two black boards on the tomato wall while everyone turned their desks to face the screen. After a few minutes he slowly looked over towards a specific corner where Mr. Vargas' desk was and met Mr. Vargas' hazel- green eyes again. The older sat in his padded desk chair, eyes deep in thought as he watched the younger Italian, the corners of his mouth twitching upward every now and then. Feliciano blushed a tad bit when the older motioned for him to come over to his desk. He got up slowly as he tried not to disturb a sleeping Alfred, and then walked over to his teacher. Mr. Vargas motioned for him to sit down on the floor as he grabbed a pen and a pad of sticky notes. He handed them to the younger Italian as he sat down on the floor. "Where are the best places to buy art supplies?" Mr. Vargas asked in a whisper.

Feliciano blinked and thought for a second. "Well the only places I can think of are in Venice. And we're in Perugia so… that would be… a three hour drive from here? I mean if you don't care about that issue then that's where I'd recommend you should go" the younger whispered back.

Mr. Vargas frowned and sighed a little, then pointed to the pad of sticky notes in Feliciano's hand. "Write down the top five stores you'd recommend I should go to. My friend wants me to pick up some painting supplies so he can begin painting in his free time like he used to," the older stated before he looked up at the movie that was playing "I said I would and now I totally regret it. Why won't he just get off his lazy ass and do it himself?" The last part came out as a mumble, but Feliciano was able to hear it easily.

"This friend of yours, do you not like him or something?" Feliciano asked after a few seconds.

Mr. Vargas gave a quick smile then answered "No, I just find him irritating a lot"

The younger smiled and looked down at the floor. "Um… so when… do you wanna… um?"

"Yes?" Mr. Vargas asked with a raised eyebrow, which caused Feliciano to blush when he looked up at the older man.

"When do you want… to meet to… discuss the whole… finding our brothers thing…? Don't you have like… four days left now?" Feliciano asked slowly.

Mr. Vargas blinked and sighed, "About that, I received a letter from my grandfather this morning."

"And? What did he say?" Feliciano asked.

"He said that I now have four more weeks added to my brother search deadline because he had some business he has to attend to in Sweden." Mr. Vargas stated with a small smile.

The younger's expression brightened. "Ve~! That's great isn't it!" he asked a little too loudly.

Mr. Vargas covered his mouth quickly, then looked up and glared at the students that looked back in their direction. When he looked back he put his finger to his lips and smirked "Not too loud idiota," he whispered "You don't want your classmates to get wrong ideas do you?"

Feliciano blushed a cherry color, which caused the older to snicker. "M-Mi Dispiace Mr. V-Vargas" he mumbled into the older Italian's hand.

The older's blush was almost not visible in the dark room, but from the light of his laptop, Feliciano was able to see it a tad bit. He lifted his hand from the younger's mouth and looked away. The audio of the movie engulfed their silence. After a few seconds the older Italian asked "You know you don't have to help me."

The younger gave a small smile, "I had planned to look for my brother at some point anyway, so when you mentioned you were looking for your brother, I wanted to help. I mean, I kinnda don't care if we find my brother or not. But if we did, I'd at least know I have someone else besides my grandfather left in my family. Even If my brother looks down on me like my mother did, I'll still care for him. If I can reunite with him, then I'll be happy." _'I'll still blame him for everything though. The only way I'll ever forgive him is if he's as nice to me as Mr. Vargas and my friends. But that's what I want, what I hope. But what I want means nothing like always' _Feliciano thought.

Mr. Vargas stared down at Feliciano, his expression blank but serious and deep in thought. "I'm just like you… or vice versa…" he mumbled almost inaudibly.

Feliciano opened his mouth to question the older Italian, but the bell that signaled the end of this class rang loudly. The younger quickly scrambled up from the floor and hurried toward his seat so no one would see where he had just been. He grabbed his satchel and hoisted it onto his shoulder, then whacked Alfred in the head with his fist to wake him from his slumber. The blond teen groaned and grumbled but didn't get up. Feliciano grabbed the American's arm and tugged him out of his desk chair. Alfred groaned and gave the Italian a death glare. "What the hell was that for!" he asked before he let out a yawn.

"If we don't hurry up and leave, we'll most likely be late for our next class!" Feliciano informed him.

Alfred rolled his eyes, "It's just choir. No one cares about choir" he stated and headed for the door.

The Italian frowned and glared at the back of his head, then turned to Mr. Vargas. The older was staring at his wall of tomatoes as Feliciano approached his desk. He set down the pad of sticky notes and pen on the space beside the older's laptop, then ran out the door and headed toward the choir room.

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Feliciano, Ludwig, Kiku, Arthur, and Alfred all scrambled onto a train at Perugia Station that was headed for Florence at the last minute. They would have been there earlier if Alfred hadn't insisted they should stop and get ice cream. Once in Florence, the five of them took another train to Venice. Feliciano planned to give a few tours in his gondola before he would meet his friends at the docks and take them on a long random route as they chatted. He had only let them ride in his gondola twice before today and on the last occasion Alfred had caused the boat to tip over because he wouldn't sit down and stop moving. So after Alfred apologized for the ten billionth time, Feliciano forgave him and agreed to the plan.

After giving many tours, the young Italian met his friends (who all now carried bags of junk food) at the docks. They all climbed in the gondola and began to chat after they all sat down in a seat. Feliciano pushed the gondola away from where he was currently docked and began to head on a route he had made up when he was bored (mainly all the places he thought were beautiful). He had been so focused on rowing the gondola that he hadn't realized Alfred had been trying to get his attention. "Hm? What did you say Alfred?" he asked adding a smile.

"You'll create a band with me and Kiku on Rock Band right? I'm already going to be the singer and he said he'd be the drummer, so we just need a guitar player! Ludwig doesn't want to play but Arthur said he would play later so you'd only have to play for a little bit if you didn't want to play for that long!" the American asked and watched him with huge puppy dog eyes, which according to Matthew, was his way of getting anyone to do what he asked.

Feliciano thought for a bit then shrugged, "Sure, as long as you don't get drunk and start screaming into the microphone to the point you get the cops called on us."

The blond frowned and stuck out his bottom lip in a pout, "You're talking to the wrong person here! The only one that'll most likely get drunk is Arthur! He's the one that can sniff out alcohol like a police dog!"

"That's not true you bloody git!" the British blond shouted as a blush of embarrassment creeped onto his face.

The American boy smirked, "Hell yeah it is!" He stood up and began to speak with a British accent as he tried to imitate Arthur. "Oi! I'm Arthur Kirkland and I love to drink! Every time I see a bottle of liquor I have to drink it and not let anyone else have any because it's all mine!"

The Briton glared then stood up and stole the American male's U.S.A. flag baseball cap off his head and placed it on his own. "Oh look I'm Alfred Jones! I like to wear my pants halfway down my arse and can't pass a single class!" the British male stated trying to hide his accent and sound American.

Everyone began to howl with laughter and watched the two shout nonsense at each other and before long, Alfred began throwing punches (not close enough to hit the other blond but close enough to make him flinch and back up). The gondola began to rock back and forth, slowly at first and barely noticeable. But as the two continued to fight, the rocking became more violent. Feliciano frowned, "Would you two just sit down already! At this rate you'll tip over my gondola and then you'll have to pay for the damages! Are you two listening to me! Hello! Arthur! Alfred! Dammit Ludwig! Kiku! Stop them please!"

Ludwig sighed in irritation and stayed in his seat, "Juzt let zem continue until zhey fall over baoard, it'll be quieter zen."

Kiku on the other hand, stood and tried to separate the two quarreling blonds all the while trying to keep his balance as the boat continued to move. "Prease just calm down! I reary don't freel like going fror a swim today! And I'm sure you don't want to pray Feliciano-chan for the damages!"

Alfred stopped mid- punch and released the Briton's shirt, "Oh! Sorry Kiku don't worry I wasn't really gonna punch him! I was only fake- Hey is that my History teacher?" the American asked, his attention towards the shops lining the canal.

Feliciano froze and looked in the same direction Alfred was. Mr. Vargas stood outside a fruit and vegetable shop examining a basket full of tomatoes and wearing the same clothes he had worn to school; dark brown button up shirt tucked behind tan slacks that were kept on by a brown leather belt. He held three shopping bags in his right hand, all from different art supply shops that Feliciano recognized. After a few minutes of talking with the shop owner, the older Italian bought the whole basket of tomatoes and headed toward a bench close to the edge of the canal. He pulled out a small yellow piece of paper from his pocket and proceeded to glare at it, then sighed and yawned before looking up at the sky.

After what felt like twenty minutes of silence (when in reality it was only two) Alfred began waving his arms above his head as he shouted, "Mr. Vargas! Hey over here! Mr. Vargas!"

Feliciano jumped when he heard Alfred shout as loud as he could to project towards the older Italian. "Alfred stop jumping and calm down! Let me get closer to shore and we can greet Mr. Vargas that way!" The young gondolier hissed at the American as he tried to keep his balance on the rocking gondola.

Alfred continued to shout, not seeming to hear the Italian male. Arthur began to join in with Kiku following after but not as loud. Ludwig just frowned and watched his friends continue to act like complete idiots. Feliciano glanced back in the direction where he saw Mr. Vargas sit, only to look away and let a deep red blush stain his face as his heart flipped more. The older Italian had looked up and had now begun to wave back and wore a look of a mix of embarrassment and amusement. After he took a few deep breaths, Felicano looked back up and began to wave at the older Italian like his friends.

But at that moment, Feliciano hadn't seen the speed boat that was heading straight for them. At the last moment the driver of said speed boat turned sharply in order to just miss the gondola, but ended up causing a huge wave to form on water's surface. The wave tipped over the already unbalanced gondola and sent the people that accompanied it into the water along with the many bags of food.

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Lovino stood from his seat on the bench after the speed boat went by and revealed a capsized gondola. He cursed and stripped off his shoes and socks and then placed them by his new basket of fresh tomatoes and bags of art supplies he had come to Venice to get. He stopped a kid that had been riding by on a tricycle and paid him to sit and watch over his stuff before he ran to the edge of the canal and dove into the cold jade- colored water. There hadn't been many boats around- couple other gondolas and three speed boats at the most- so Lovino didn't have to worry about getting run over by accident. When he arrived at the upside down gondola, he found Arthur, Kiku, Ludwig, and Alfred all coughing up water and gasping for air. "Are you all alright!" he asked the group of students.

Arthur coughed and panted a little before he answer, "I-I think so Mr. Vargas sir," he stopped and began to look around. His eyes went wide in fear, "Feliciano! Feliciano where are you! Feliciano!" he shrieked out, looking at his friends who also began to look for Feliciano.

Lovino felt his chest tighten before he began to look around quickly for the younger Italian. He took a deep breath before he dove under. He found the young Italian halfway below the water's surface, a stream of blood escaping from a spot on his forehead. His body continued to sink even after Lovino had gotten closer. The older Italian scooped the younger male into his arms and headed to the surface, using a nearby rock to push off of. When he surfaced he found the same speed boat that had passed earlier waiting there, his other four students were now aboard the boat wrapped in towels. The driver of the boat helped him and an unconscious Feliciano aboard, than wrapped a towel around them. Lovino ordered the driver to head to a hospital before attending to Feliciano who had been laid on the floor of the boat. He put two fingers to the younger Italian's throat, and felt for a pulse that was not there. "Come on Feli, wake up!" he commanded as he shook the younger's shoulder, he moved closer and hovered his ear inches from Feliciano's mouth as he tried to listen for the sound of the younger exhaling.

His eyes went wide when he heard nothing. _'Shit he's not breathing either!'_ he turned to his other students quickly "One of you needs to help me perform CPR! Now! Before he dies!"

Ludwig stood up quickly and rushed over then kneeled down and placed his hands on Feliciano's chest while Lovino sat beside Feliciano's head and held the younger's mouth open. When the older was ready he nodded to the German student who began to push on Feliciano's chest. "One… two…three… four… five… breath!" Ludwig commanded.

Lovino took a deep breath before he closed the gap between his lips and Feliciano's.

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**I swear the cliffhanger was not intentional! I had planned on ending this chapter differently but the gondola thing popped into my mind last minute to yeah anyway. The next chapter may be delayed a little bit due to a summer English assignment I have to do. I have to finish _The Help_ and write a paper on why or why not it's good literature (or something along those lines) and lastly I have to write a speech briefly summarizing the paper. Yay... anyway I love the reviews and comments I get! I love reading about what you all have to say! Please leave more! I'm glad you're all enjoying the story so far. You all have gave me more confidence to post other stories I have started to write. That'll be later of course. To be continued in the next chapter!**


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